The Backpacker's Guide To Prehistory

Pack your raincoat, because this week we're heading to a very stormy Jurassic. As the only geological period with bona fide movie star status, the Jurassic is full of prehistoric celebrities, from the first birds and mammals to - of course - the dinosaurs. But what should you wear? And where should you visit? Fortunately, Dr Evelyn Kustatscher of the South Tyrol Museum of Nature (https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Evelyn-Kustatscher) and Dr Elsa Panciroli of the Oxford University Museum of...

Wide open skies, grand horizons and the promise of adventure: the Neogene has it all. Join host David Mountain as he explores the varied environments of this time period and the plants and animals that made them up. You might even come face-to-face with your own ancestors in the plains of East Africa!* Providing valuable travel tips are two Neogene experts: Dr Aly Baumgartner, a palaeobotanist at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History (https://twitter.com/PaleoLorax; https://scientiaa...

For this episode of The Backpacker’s Guide To Prehistory, host David Mountain is setting his time machine for the distant Ordovician period, 485-444 million years ago. Dive into oceans teeming with long-lost wildlife, from trilobites to orthocones to the nightmarish conodonts. Providing some much-needed travel tips are Dr Lucy McCobb, a palaeontologist at the National Museum Cardiff (https://museum.wales/staff/184/Lucy-McCobb/) and Prof Dave Harper, Professor Emeritus of Palaeontology at Durh...

The backpack is back! The 17th January 2022 sees the long-awaited/half-forgotten return of The Backpacker's Guide To Prehistory - the podcast that provides top travel tips for time travellers. Across six brand new episodes, host David Mountain will be asking experts in palaeobiology about the most important, interesting and exciting aspects of our planet's past. Stay tuned for more! This trailer features snippets from interviews with Dr Monica Carvalho, Dr James Lamsdell and Prof Dave Harper...

Gather round the campfire as host David Mountain prepares for an adventure through the Triassic, the Jurassic's older, cooler brother. If you can avoid being eaten by giant reptiles, falling into enormous dung beds and getting stuck in a two-million-year-long rainstorm, then the Triassic might just be the trip of your lifetime! Providing some much-needed travel advice are Dr Emma Dunne, a palaeobiologist at the University of Birmingham (https://emmadunne.weebly.com/; https://twitter.com/emma...

Up for an adventure holiday? Then join host David Mountain as he travels back to the Permian, perhaps the most infamous interval in all Earth history. From giant insects to sabretooth reptiles to a truly massive mass extinction, the Permian promises to be a trip like no other. Providing some much-needed travel tips are Dr Neil Brocklehurst, a palaeobiologist at the University of Oxford (https://neilbrocklehurst.weebly.com/; https://twitter.com/palaeo_neil) and Dr Suresh Singh, a palaeontolog...

Welcome to The Backpacker's Guide To Prehistory! For this first episode, host David Mountain explores the dos and don'ts of travelling back to the Cretaceous period, 145-66 million years ago. What clothes should you pack? What dinosaurs should you look out for? And what are the chances you'll be eaten alive on your holiday? Providing the answers are two Cretaceous experts: Dr Monica Carvalho, a palaeobiologist with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (https://moccada.wixsite.com/pale...